When I was at Bassora, a whole cargo of similar remains
lay near the Tigris, and among others a sphynx.
On our return we visited the village Nebbi Yunus, which is situated
on a slight eminence near the ruins. It is remarkable only on
account of a small mosque, which contains the ashes of the prophet
Jonas, and to which thousands of devotees make annual pilgrimages.
During this excursion we passed a number of fields, in which the
people were engaged in separating the corn from the straw in a very
peculiar manner. For this purpose, a machine was employed,
consisting of two wooden tubs, between which was fastened a roller,
with from eight to twelve long, broad, and blunt knives or hatchets.
This was drawn by two horses or oxen over the bundles of corn laid
on the ground, until the whole of the corn was separated from the
straw. It was then thrown up into the air by means of shovels, so
that the chaff might be separated from the grain by the wind.
We finally visited the sulphur springs, which lie close to the walls
of Mosul. They are not warm, but appear to contain a large quantity
of sulphur, as the smell is apparent at a considerable distance.
These springs rise in natural basins, which are surrounded by walls
eight feet in height. Every one is allowed to bathe there without
any charge, for people are not so niggardly and sparing of nature's
gifts as in Europe. Certain hours are set apart for women, and
others for the men.
On the following day we rode to the Mosque Elkosch, near the town.
Noah's son Shem has found a resting-place here. We were not allowed
to enter this mosque, but certainly did not lose much by that, as
all these monuments are alike, and are not remarkable either for
architecture or ornament.
The Nineveh excavations are carried on most extensively at Tel-
Timroud, a district where the mounds of earth are the most numerous.
Tel-Nimroud is situated about eighteen miles from Mosul down the
Tigris.
We took our seats one moonlight evening upon a raft, and glided down
between the dull banks of the Tigris. After seven hours, we landed,
about 1 o'clock in the morning, at a poor village, bearing the high
sounding name Nimroud. Some of the inhabitants, who were sleeping
before their huts, made us a fire and some coffee, and we then laid
down till daybreak upon some rugs we had brought with us.
At daybreak we took horses (of which there are plenty in every
village), and rode to the excavations, about a mile from Nimroud.
We found here a great number of places which had been dug up, or
rather, uncovered mounds of earth, but not, as at Herculaneum, whole
houses, streets, squares, indeed, half a town. Nothing beyond
separate rooms has been brought to light here, or at the utmost,
three or four adjoining ones, the exterior walls of which are not,
in any case, separated from the earth, and have neither windows nor
doors visible.
The objects which have been discovered exactly resemble those in the
neighbourhood of Mosul, but occur in greater numbers. Besides
these, I saw several idols and sphynxes in stone. The former
represented animals with human heads; their size was gigantic - about
that of an elephant. Four of these statues have been found, two of
which were, however, considerably damaged. The others were not
indeed in very good preservation, although sufficiently so to show
that the sculptors did not particularly excel in their profession.
The sphynxes were small, and had unfortunately suffered more damage
than the bulls.
Shortly before my arrival, an obelisk of inconsiderable height, a
small and uninjured sphynx, together with other remains, had been
sent to England.
The excavations near Tel-Nimroud have been discontinued about a
year, and Mr. Layard has been recalled to London. An order was
afterwards given to cover in the places which had been dug open, as
the wandering Arabs had begun to do a great deal of injury. When I
visited the spot, some places were already covered in, but the
greater part remained open.
The excavations near Nebbi Yunus are still being carried on. An
annual grant is made by the British government for this purpose.
The English resident at Baghdad, Major Rawlinson, had made himself
perfectly master of the cuneiform character. He reads the
inscriptions with ease, and many of the translations are the results
of his labours.
We returned to Mosul on horseback in five hours and a half. The
power of endurance of the Arabian horses is almost incredible. They
were allowed only a quarter of an hour's rest in Mosul, where they
had nothing but water, and then travelled the eighteen miles back
again during the hottest part of the day. Mr. Ross told me that
even this was not equal to the work done by the post horses: the
stations for these are from forty-eight to seventy-two miles distant
from each other. It is possible to travel from Mosul by Tokat to
Constantinople in this way. The best Arabian horses are found round
Baghdad and Mosul.
An agent of the Queen of Spain had just purchased a stud of twelve
magnificent horses (eight mares and four stallions), the dearest of
which had cost on the spot 150 pounds sterling. They stood in Mr.
Rassam's stable. Their handsome, long, slender heads, their
sparkling eyes, slight bodies, and their small delicately formed
feet, would have filled any admirer of horses with delight.
I could now venture, not, indeed, without considerable risk,
although with the possibility of some insult, upon the desired
journey into Persia.
